By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 30 --
On the next to
last day of
this round of
Syria talks in
Geneva,
facilitator
Lakhdar Brahimi
was asked
about a
"terrorist
attack" on a
television
station,
killing seven.
He called it a
loaded
question. From
the UN's
transcript:
Q.
:
(unofficial
translation
from Arabic)
What is not
known is that
Al-Ikhbariya
TV [Syrian
news] was
subjected to a
terrorist
attack. It
was completely
destroyed in
an explosion
and the
terrorism led
to
seven of its
staff being
killed. My
question, Mr.
Brahimi, is,
for
you, what
comes first?
Ending the
terrorism and
bloodshed in
Syria or
distributing
political
posts? Thank
you.
Brahimi
:
(unofficial
translation
from Arabic)
That’s a
loaded
question…Let’s
take another
question.
In what
remained of
the 13 minutes
press
conference,
the UN took
questions from
Swiss and
German media,
from state
owned France
24, and Al Kul
radio based,
as Ahmad al
Jarba's SNC
is, in Turkey.
On January 30,
the SNC's
vaunted social
media team (or
"Official
account of the
Syrian
National
Coalition
Media Unit in
Geneva
process") tweeted that
"this morning
in Geneva 2
our delegation
asked that
meeting start
with a
minute’s
silence for
the victims of
Assad."
Hours later in
Washington, US
State
Department
spokesperson
Jen Psaki
spoke of this
as a good
sign, then
quoted Brahimi
as the basis
of her
statement.
(That the US
shows more
respect to
Brahimi than
Ban Ki-moon,
whom they
successfully
ordered to
UN-invite
Iran, is
another
story).
That the Syria
government
side agreed to
the moment of
silence would
seem to
indicate they
didn't agree
to silence for
"Assad's victims."
A reporter asked that if
there is a
communique on
January 31, it
be put out in
writing and in
the afternoon,
before the
"radios shut
down." A bit
behind the
times, but hey
-
this is the
UN.
In New York on
January 29
Inner City
Press asked
Iran's
Permanent
Representative
Khazaee about
missing
anything at
the talks in
Montreux, from
which the UN
dis-invited
Iran.
It worked out
better this
way, Khazaee
told Inner
City Press, on
his way into
the Security
Council to
give a speech
on War and Its
Lessons.
On January 27,
Inner City
Press asked
why
journalists
were being
banned from
filming near
the entrance
to the Syria
talks. Haq
said, Ask
Geneva,
but the
spokesperson
there did not
answer. So the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access raised
the issue,
as a negative
precedent.
The belated
answer that
came was that
the two
delegations,
government and
SNC, had
requested it.
Still, what
about the
precedent?
Asked another
way, can Jarba
limit freedom
of the press
INSIDE the UN?
After current
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
invited and
then UNinvited
Iran to the
Syria talks in
Montreux,
former
Secretary
General Kofi
Annan
announced he
and three
other Elders
would visit
Iran.
On
January 27,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's acting
deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq if
Annan's talks
in Iran are
coordinated in
any way with
Ban or Lakhdar
Brahimi, and
why
journalists
covering the
talks in
Geneva were
banned from
filming or
photographing
the Syrian or
opposition
delegations
entering or
leaving the
UN. Video
here.
Haq replied,
We don't speak
for the
Elders, and
said to put
the media
access
question to
his
counterpart in
Geneva. Inner
City Press
did, on behalf
of the Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
so far without
answer.
On January 27,
Brahimi said
that SNC would
"try to"
produce a list
of people
kidnapped or
detained by
armed groups
in Syria. But
then he
admitted the
obvious: there
are armed
groups the SNC
doesn't
control or
have contact
with.
An obvious
question would
be: what
percentage of
armed
opposition in
Syria does the
SNC represent?
But no one
asked it.
Instead,
Agence France
Presse asked
Brahimi about
Srebrenica,
why a list of
males in Old
City Homs
would be
produced.
Did AFP raise
this when the
UN
in South Sudan
separated
Dinka from
Nuer? When
France
in Central
African
Republic
disarmed the
predominately
Muslim
ex-Seleka and
left Muslim
communities to
be attacked by
Christian
anti-Balaka,
as even Navi
Pillay has
said?
AFP serves not
only France --
pass through
on Francois
Hollande's
break-up note,
for example --
abut also the
UN, giving
easy
interviews to
the UN's envoy
on cholera in
Haiti,
where the UN
introduced the
disease.
Brahimi said
he is going
day to day; on
January 27 he
will meet with
the two sides
together,
speaking
through him,
then
separately.
Why aren't the
Kurds of
Rojava, for
example,
represented in
the talks?
Former UN
Secretary
General Kofi
Annan, as well
as Martti
Ahtisaari,
Desmond Tutu
and Ernesto
Zedillo, will
be in Iran
from January
26 to 29, to
discuss among
other things
"mutual
respect" and
peace in the
region: that
is, Syria.
This comes
after current
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon on
January 20
reversed his
"decision" of
the previous
day of
inviting Iran
to the Syria
talks in
Montreux. The
contrast, some
say, couldn't
be clearer.
(Among those
not making the
obvious
comparison was
Reuters editor
in chief Stephen
Adler, bylined
on a dispatch
from Davos
identifying
Annan as
"Ex-Syria
Envoy."
Under Adler's
watch, Reuters
at least
through its UN
bureau has
degenerated
into a
pass-through
for Western
missions,
also seeking
to get the
investigative
Press thrown
out of the UN
then mis-using
the Digital
Millennium
Copyright Act
to try to
cover it it:
that is,
censor it from
Google's
Search. Click
here for that story. DMCA
filing here,
via
ChillingEffects.org).
Now in Geneva
Syria's
Permanent
Representative
to the UN
Bashar al
Ja'afari is
speaking for
the
government. In
New York,
Ban's
spokesperson's
office has refused
to answer a
detailed "note
verbale" from
the Syrian
mission
about
inaccurate
answers to
Press
questions
about who
attack UN
peacekeepers
in the Golan.
On
January 20 in
the Security
Council,
Ja'afari
complained
again of
inaction on
complaints by
Herve
Ladsous,
the fourth
French head of
UN
Peacekeeping
in a row. This
is why the UN
is not even
the lead
mediator on
South Sudan,
much less the
Middle East or
Syria.
Ending
the Syria
speeches in
Montreux on
January 22,
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon called
them
"productive."
Then his
spokesperson
accused some
non-Western
media of being
"disrespectful
of the
Secretary
General of the
UN," after he
gave the last
two questions
to Bloomberg
and NHK.
How was it
productive?
Even before
the afternoon
session began,
French foreign
minister
Laurent Fabius
took to the
Montreux
stakeout to
say Syrian
foreign
minister
Moallem was
"aggressive."
This is the
same Fabius
who in
September at
the UN
declared Ahmad
al Jarba the
leader of the
Syrian people,
and refused to
take critical
questions from
the media
including
about his
country's
practices.
Australia was
represented
not by foreign
minister Julie
Bishop but
rather its
Ambassador to
the UN in
Geneva, Peter
Woolcott (who
also chairs a
humanitarian
high level
group on
Syria, it's
been pointed
out to Inner
City
Press.).
Bishop is on
Washington,
and soon New
York.
Ahmad al Jarba
spoke next to
last, thanking
Saudi Arabia,
viewed as his
sponsor, as if
in an Oscars
speech. Ban
Ki-moon
wrapped up,
calling it
productive and
asking the
assembled
(hand-picked,
without Iran)
minister to
"wish [him]
luck" as he
went to speak
to the media.
There, the
questions were
chosen much as
they are at
the UN in New
York, as
documented and
critiqued by
the Free
UN Coalition
for Access
-- but in
Montreux, this
was actively
protested. (FUNCA
also
questioned the
UN citing
Ban's press
conference as
a basis to
cancel its
noon briefing
in New York,
on South
Sudan, Central
African
Republic, Mali
and other
countries in
which the UN
is at least
somewhat less
marginal or US
dominated.)
When John
Kerry held his
press
conference,
only four
questions were
taken: CBS, a
Turkish media,
BBC and Al
Hurra, on
whose
Broadcasting
Board of
Governors John
Kerry himself
serves. Freedom
of the press
at today's US
State
Department we
covered
yesterday,
here.
After
the UN's
craven
reversal on
including Iran
in the Syria
session in
Montreux,
it has turned
out to be a
series of
speeches
mostly by
countries
significantly
less important
to that
conflict and
the region.
In the morning
session on
January 22,
Italy and
Spain spoke
and Japan
offered money.
Turkey spoke
without
mentioning the
Kurds -- but
neither did
supposed
representative
of the range
of Syrian
opposition
Ahmad al
Jarba.
Since Jarba's
Saudi-sponsored,
Saud al Faisal
called him
"Excellency,"
pomp like Jarba's
faux "UN
briefing" with
Gulf and
Western media
in July.
Using his
PresidentJarba
Twitter
account, on
which
Inner City
Press previously
reported,
Jarba repeated
his own
speech. Turns
out he follows
Anonymous,
among only 51
follows. Who
knew?
The UK's
William
Hague's
microphone
went dead;
when it came
back on he
bemoaned the
lack of a
women's
delegation to
the talks. The
UN did not
push for this
on Syria, nor
on South Sudan
- but Ban
Ki-moon
highlighted
that for a
moment, how
ever brief,
there was a
woman in both
the Syria and
(Jarba) Syrian
National
Coalition
seat. Call it
a photo op.
Behind Hague
was a UN
alumni, the UK's former
political
coordinator in
the Security
Council David
Quarrey.
His Russian
counterpart
Vladimir
Safronkov was
also there,
in Sergey
Lavrov's
delegation.
Ban Ki-moon
announced a
lunch break
until 2:45 pm,
to be followed
by 18 more
speakers, then
the Syria and
SNC speakers
like rights of
reply. What
did people
think these
speeches would
accomplish.
We'll have a
separate story
on that soon.
At the UN on
January 21,
Inner City
Press asked
Haq for the
UN's response
to Iranian
foreign
minister Javad
Zarif saying
"Ban Ki-moon
contacted me
several times
last week and
I stated to
him explicitly
that we don’t
accept any
preconditions
for
participating
in the
meeting. We
regret that
Mr. Ban
Ki-moon has
withdrawn his
offer and
believe that
such an
attitude is
not
appropriate
for the status
and dignity of
the
Secretary-General."
Haq said Ban
believed he
had "oral
understandings"
with Zarif.
Inner City
Press asked
Haq, since
the Geneva I
Communique
requires a
commitment to
a sustained
cessation of
armed violence
in all its
forms, how are
Qatar and
Saudi Arabia,
both of which
are among
those still
providing
weapons and
more to armed
groups in
Syria, invited
to Montreux?
Where's Ban's
dismay at
that?
Haq said that
Ban is
dismayed at
the
militarization
of the
conflict. Video here.
Earlier on
January 21,
Inner City
Press spoke
with Russia's
Permanent
Representative
to the UN
Vitaly Churkin
about Ban
Ki-moon
about-face.
Churkin told
Inner City
Press,
exclusively,
"some people
let him down,
and not
necessarily
the Iranians."
Others have
analogized Ban
to the
American
Charlie Brown,
kicking at
empty space
when the
football is
taken away at
the last
second. Was
Ban Ki-moon
set up?
Since the
Geneva I
Communique
requires a
commitment to
a sustained
cessation of
armed violence
in all its
forms, how for
example are
Qatar and
Saudi Arabia,
both of which
provide
weapons and
more to armed
groups in
Syria, invited
to Montreux?
Also, where are the Kurds? Those who actually control territory in the north, Rojava, are not part of Ahmad al Jarba's turkey-based Syrian Coalition, and were not separately invited to the talks. What about their dismay? We'll have more on this.
Also, where are the Kurds? Those who actually control territory in the north, Rojava, are not part of Ahmad al Jarba's turkey-based Syrian Coalition, and were not separately invited to the talks. What about their dismay? We'll have more on this.
On January 20,
Inner City
Press asked
Iran's
Ambassador
about Ban's
dismay or
disappointment.
Video
here.
Outside
the UN
Security
Council later
on January 20,
Inner City
Press asked
Iranian
Permanent
Representative
to the UN
Khazaee about
Ban having
been
"dismayed" by
the Iranian
foreign
ministry's
spokesperson's
comments.
Kazaee
replied, "I
think all of
you are very
well aware
about the
consistency in
our position
about G2, so
the high
political
officials are
expected to
act based on
realities."
Yes,
realities:
minutes after
Ban's
spokesperson's
disinvitation
announcement,
Jarba's Syrian
Opposition
Coalition
returned to
the position
voted on with
44 members
absent: they
will attend
the talks in
Switzerland.
Earlier, after
Ban's
spokesperson's
statement
Iran's Khazaee
said (and his
spokesperson
sent to Inner
City Press) --
"The
Islamic
Republic of
Iran
appreciates
the efforts of
the UN
Secretary
General and
his special
envoy, Mr.
Brahimi in
finding a
political
solution for
Syrian crisis.
Iran has
always been
supportive of
finding a
political
solution for
this
crisis.
"However
the Islamic
Republic of
Iran does not
accept any
preconditions
for its
participation
in Geneva II
conference. If
the
participation
of Iran is
conditioned to
accept Geneva
I communique,
Iran will not
participate in
Geneva II
conference."
After that
arrived, Inner
City Press
asked Syrian
Permanent
Representative
Bashar
Ja'afari about
Iran's
statement. He
replied, "My
sincere
advice, don't
waste your
time on this
issue -- they
will be
there."
Then he went
into the
Security
Council, where
Syria is
listed as the
35th of 47
speakers on
the Middle
East, with
Iran
39th.
What will they
say? Watch
this site.
At
12:30 pm on
January 20,
Inner City
Press asked
Nesirky if Ban
is equally
dismayed at
the Syrian
National
Coalition's
spokesperson
calling Ban's
bait and
switch invite
"immoral, even
in
politics."
Nesirky
declined to
specifically
express dismay
at this
comment, only
saying that a
number of
comments have
been
disappointing.
"This one?"
Nesirky would
not answer.
Given the
SNC's 2 pm
ultimatum on
Ban to
disinvite
Iran, Inner
City Press
asked Nesirky
if the
invitation to
the SNC was
the only one
to non-Assad
Syrians, or if
for example
Kurds could be
invited.
Nesirky said:
one unified
delegation.
Hardly -- 44
members of the
SNC already
dropped out
before the
vote to
attend. What
would the vote
count be now?
Before
the Middle
East meeting
of the UN
Security
Council on
January 20,
the Permanent
Representatives
of France, the
UK and Russia
spoke to the
press about
Iran being
invited to the
Syria talks
beginning in
Montreux
January 22.
Ambassador
Gerard Araud
of France,
which Bashar
Assad called a
proxy state of
Qatar and
Saudi Arabia,
said the ball
is in the
court of Iran,
to explicitly
accept Geneva
I. The UK's
Mark Lyall
Grant said the
UK position is
that Iran must
clarify,
publicly, that
it accepts
Geneva I.
Others ask why
should Iran
accept a
communique of
Geneva I to
which it was
not invited.
Others say
Iran does in
its way accept
the communique
- it just
interprets it
differently.
Russian
Permanent
Representative
Vitaly Churkin
said "of
course" the US
had been
consulted
before Iran
was invited.
If the SNC now
does not
attend,
Churkin said,
it would be a
"big mistake."
Ban Ki-moon
went into the
Security
Council suite
with a big
entourage;
there was a
time he was
not on UNTV in
the chamber.
Inner City
Press can
report that
UNTV
technicians
were asked to
pipe in a feed
of the public
meeting into a
side room.
There was talk
of Ban's
selective
meetings,
using the code
name EU P2.
The Istanbul
based Syrian
National
Coalition set
a deadline of
2 pm in New
York on
January 20 for
the invitation
to be
rescinded.
Soner Ahmed,
an SNC
spokesman,
said Ban
"waited to
invite Iran
until after
the
coalition’s
decision to
attend the
conference.
That is
immoral, even
in politics."
Ban
previously met
with the SNC's
Ahmad al Jarba
in Ban's UN
provided
residence;
when the Free
UN Coalition
for Access
asked
why it had not
been on his
schedule, the
meeting was
called
personal.
Now, things
have really
gotten
personal.
Among
UNanswered
questions is
whether the
SNC would or
would have
brought any
Kurdish
representatives,
and why or
whether the
Kurds will not
now be
invited.
Saudi Arabia
shot back at
the invitation
of Iran by
saying they
should not
attend because
it "has
military
forces in
Syria." But
doesn't Uganda
have fighting
forces in
South Sudan,
while being a
member of
"mediator"
IGAD?
UN-consistency.
Ban made his
Iran
invitation
announcement
in a hastily
thrown
together press
conference
held Sunday
evening in an
nearly empty
UN building,
on barely an
hour's notice.
Nevertheless,
Ban's
spokesperson
automatically
gave the first
question to
the United
Nations
Correspondents
Association, a
partisan group
which for
example held a
faux "UN
briefing" for
Ahmad al Jarba
of the
Turkey-based
Syrian
Coalition.
Click here
for Inner City
Press story
on
that.
Ban
Ki-moon dodged
and did not
answer on the
weakness
of Jarba's
Coalition,
from which
over 40
members
decided not to
attend the
vote approving
attended at
the talks in
Switzerland.
Nor until the
end of this
press
conference did
Ban mention
the inclusion
of women.
Has he asked
Jarba about
that?
Ban
said he spoke
with Iranian
foreign
minister Javad
Zarif, who
"committed to
play a
constructive
and positive
role." Ban
repeated this
line when
asked about
the litmus
test of
accepting that
Geneva II is
about Geneva I
which was
about
"establishing
a transitional
governing body
with full
executive
powers" -- on
mutual
consent,
whatever that
means.
Ban
also announced
supplemental
invitations to
Montreux for,
among others,
Australia,
Bahrain,
Belgium,
Greece,
Luxembourg,
Mexico, the
Netherlands
and, yes,
South Korea.
It was
at 4:21 pm
that the UN
sent out an
email that Ban
would appear
for a "brief
and important
statement" in
the UN at 5:30
pm. When that
time arrived,
the so-called
UNCA chair (or
"Holy Seat")
on which the
UN has affixed
a metal tag
was filled --
and from that
seat a
complaint was
made to try to
get another
correspondent
moved.
UNCA's
president
Pamela Falk of
CBS was not
there; nor was
her first vice
president, who
nonetheless
was heard to
call into the
room. It is
time to end
the practice
of the UN
automatically
giving the
first question
to
UNCA - a group
of which
executive
committee
members tried
to get the
investigative
Press thrown
out of
the UN
(and to get leaked
documents
removed from
Google's
search under a
specious DMCA
filing by
Reuters'
bureau chief)
and which has
not reformed
in any way
since then.
The Free UN Coalition for Access
additionally
asks why this
announcement
was made this
way. There is
more and more
staging at the
UN, faux
Q&A and
UNTV footage
put out hoping
it will be
used as B
roll. The UN
should be more
transparent,
less of a
scam. We'll
have more on
this.